The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-28

houses and hotels brilliantly illuminated, 1t was,
| indeed, midsummer nights dream. Notices
| were in great profusion, the favorites being,
| "Tous pour un un pour toush-all for one. one
for all-which seemed quite homelike and the
| Genevese Post tenebra lux" Geneva is the
smallest and youngest canton in the republic
| but it is the richest, and certainly is riotousl,
| devoted to the union. The next day things mao
| resumed their normal aspect; the streets were
| deserted OF ali but their usual traffic and pas
sengers. stores were opened, the boats on the
lake had lost their decorations, the profuse
| bunting on the houses hung lank and dripping
| in the torrid heat. while over the whole tnero
rested the appearance of a universal headache
| ''all samee Mclean man"
| The sights of Geneva are punched 30 to
| speak, so that you can carom from the one TO
| the other easily and make a home run" within
reasonable time. On little island in the Rhone,
just as it leaves the lake. there s sitting statue
| of Jean jacques Rousseau. A small cafe near is
| an additional attraction, and the quiet spot al
| ways has little company who rest in the shade.
| and eat their glaces and quaff their beer and
! wine in the presence of the effgy of the great
| sophist. The inscription she statue is very
| brief-"Jean JACQUES Rousseau, Ctoyen de
| Geneva. 17l2-177S." With the exception of a
| fine equestrian statue to General Dufour-
!
there is no other statue in Geneva save two en-
| blematical national ones. There is none to Vol
taire, none to Calvin. Even the burial place Of
the severe old reformer is not known. he forbid
| ding the erection of any memorial above his
| grave The Cathedral of St. Peter is there
though, and under the pulpit the chair in which
| Calvin sat and taught. Very the cathedral
| is the Rue Calvin in No. IL of which Calvin
| lived The house is two story. with dormer
| window at each end, plastered front-very like
| chapel in its appearance It is Cow used
| the medical department of the university Over
| the door, the occasion of the fete
wreath with inscription setting forth that
| while the Genevese remembered all their bless
ipgs they did not forget those which came to
them through the illustrious Calvin. This is
| free translation made the spot. My French
| is not yet perfect, but this is the substance Of
| 1t. 1t is not more than three minutes walk
to the Hotel de Vile, in front of which Servetus
was burned. and in which the Geneva Arbitration
Board met Strangely enough could not find
| any one who knew anything of that really great
event, and, to tell the truth, could only recall
| the names of four of the men who sat in that
| historic counc-Cockeburn, Adams, Staemphi
! and liable, of Brazil. Since racking my
! brains, l think Corti OF Italy, was the
| fifth number but am not certain. wanted to
| be absolutely sure that had stood in the room
| where that arbitration was made for after be-
| ing in the midst of the display of arms for SO
| long, and reading in the newspapers no other
news than that relating to military movements,
| and the possibility of peace depending
| upon the meeting of emperors upon the move
ments of some petty prince who had been elect
ed to a cheap, two-cent throne, I was anxious to
| rest for time in memory of the greatest step
ever taken to the time when the war drum shall
| throb longer, and the battle flag be furled."
| But I had to be content with a supposition.
Rousseaus house is near to both Calvin's and
| the Hotel de Vile. 1t is No. 40 Grand Rue, and
is one of a long row, four stories in height
plastered stone front. and entered through an
arched stone doorway that leads through long
dark passage to the courtyard, whence the
stairs ascend to the different floors. The pen
may be mightier than the sword; but after visit
ing the homes of not a few princes of tho one,
and contrasting them with the stately piles
where lived the wslders of the other, it is very
certain that the rewards of war and peace do not
seem to be equitably distributed Men of thought
come to their reward in Immortality; men of &C.
ton in life WELL
Ferney, the home of Voltaire, is at the further
erd of the little village town the road to
Paris. It is about five miles. eight kilometers
from Geneva and is reached by bus every hour
The chateau is now owned by Mr.. David, and
is well kept up, both house and grounds 1t is
not unlike some of old colonial houses, and
has facade OF probably eighty feet On
the left stands the little chapel, with it's
blasphemeus MOTTO "Deo erexit Voltaire." The
approach from the main road is through an av-
enue OF large chestnuts, about eighth Of q
mile long On the fountain in the village square
g tofV olf puffh nv Dsvi
and near by is Hotel Voltairs and cafe Vol
taire and that is all Of the great infdel that I
could see. Paris does better for him. There
there is fine statue, and splendid boulevard
and a ouai are given his name; but the atmos-
phere of Paris more congenial for Voltaire
han that of Geneva
Of week in Paris will not attempt to write
at length. The beauty of the city has been des-
canted upon and its public buildings and monu-
ments so often described to be known by
everybody. The number and extent of the
palaces and gardens and buildings is, however,
bewildering. The amount Of money necessary
to keep up unused Versailles and Fontainebleau,
for instance, merely memorials of past his
tory must be serious drain upon the earnings
of the people, TO say nothing of the vast amount
of property lying idle. Everything in and about
Paris revolves around Louis and Napoleon
Versailles, Fontainebleau, st. Denis and the
Invalides. The Place de la Bastile with its
column of July is vocal with the history of one
revolution, and the Place Vendome, with its
restored column, and dozen other places such
as the new Hotel Vile. the vacancy where
the Tuieries stood and the ruins of the
COUNSEL d'Etat, eloquent of another revolu-
ton. In the vastEess of the Place de la Concorde
sat and recalled the tragedy and the farce of
French history. and wondered what would be
next The people in stew over a prospective
duel between Boulanger and Grevy, and four
teen other duels the tapis simultaneously.
There is no use in moralizing over the
French, in sermonizlng their
supposed wckedness; but I defy any
- 70 a